The 29th annual Greek-Serbian Orthodox and Cultural Friendship Day was held at the Serbian Orthodox Parish Hall of “St Stephen” in Plumpton, western Sydney.
The Friendship Day began with a Divine Liturgy by Serbian parish priest, Father Aleksandar Ivanovic. This was followed by the hall event where Father Aleksandar welcomed everyone and thanked the Greek community for their attendance and unwavering friendship.
In attendance were a number of officials and prominent members of the Serbian and Greek communities including the President of the Pan-Macedonian Association of NSW, Anastasia Karakominakis; the President of the Greek Orthodox Parish and Community of Saint Paraskevi at Blacktown, Professor Vlasios Brakoulias; and members of the Association for Greek Australian Teachers of NSW, Queensland and the ACT; among many others.
On the day, all attendees enjoyed a short message sent by the Consul General of Greece in Sydney, Christos Karras, which stressed the strong ties between Serbia and Greece in religion, history and culture.
This was followed by a four-hour music and dance program which was curated in Greek and English by Dimitrios Kametopoulos, and by Ilija Glisic in Serbian.
A number of Greek dancing groups such as Kimata Dance School, Sizmos, the Cypriot Community of Sydney & NSW, and the Cretan Association of Sydney & NSW, performed traditional dances of Cyprus, Macedonia, Thessaly, the Aegean and Crete.
The Serbian dance groups also impressed with their colourful costumes and the diverse traditional sounds from the north of Serbia and the province of Vojvodina in Central Serbia.
The celebration ended at 6pm with those present leaving enthusiastically after the already strong relations of the Greeks and Serbians were strengthened.
